8th port. - Valencia, Spain

8th port.  18.5.16.  Valencia, Spain

Hola.  Yay, we are in Spain.  Woo....Hoo!!

Oops, I know Palamos is in Spain too but for me this truly has the Spanish feel.  We all agreed this is such a beautiful Spanish
city with its wide 6 lane roads.  Souvenir shops lining the side of the roads with plenty of outside sitting for food.  This is my third favorite place, the first being Rome and the second, Mallorca.
The whole atmosphere of this city is "inviting", exciting and with the glorious weather very very nice indeed.

It was also easy to find a pure vegetarian restaurant, in fact, we were spoilt for choice.  Good local food. We also went to McDonalds which was first class in cleanliness and with a superior interior.  As I am sure you can guess, this place is an important source for our wifi and toilet.  I know, I know.  Here we go again talking about food.


Barcelona, 19-20.5.16.  Spain

Our last port.  We have 2 days on our own and Kheng Lee did a fantastic job organizing our stay here to take full advantage of the numerous attractions.  Bought the day Hop On/Hop Off bus that went on 2 different routes so we covered Barcelona comprehensively from the sandy beaches to a ride up a small mountain.  So much to see and so much to do in this Beautuful city.

The Hare Krsna temple was only 5-7 mins walk from our hotel.  We arrived there at 10am and were told to come back for Lord Nrsimhadev's festival at 4pm.  So back we went and Kheng Lee was invited to lead the kirtan (singing).  He did a great, superb, wonderful, enlivening job.  So speak the much biased mother.
The temple president then gave a very very long, about 1 hour and 20 minutes, lecture in Spanish.  Whewwwwwww.  But the prasadam more than made up for our patience.

Time for another joke so you don't fall asleep on me.  Husband always take the opportunity to go take a pee when we stop for lunch at a restaurant.  His route usually take him pass the kitchen and one day he couldn't resist telling the Italian waiter that all the cooks are Indian.  Oh no, says the waiter.  They are Italians, just sunburnt, too much sun!!  Yeah.  Right.

Last, but not least, I should at least mention one church in detail.  This is the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia.  Even before its completion, this church is the most visited monumental site in Spain, receiving more than 3,000,000 visitors per year.  This church is entirely built with donations.  When I first saw the outside of the church it looked a bit weird because it is not in the traditional Gothic style.  However with its striking appearance and breathtaking features it certainly stood out.
Please do Google the architect, Antonia Gaudi and you will be totally amazed at his greatness and vision.  It is not in a big piece of land, but boy, oh boy, you can see and feel the dedication and the love he has for God.

Arrived back at the hotel at 9pm, exhausted but happy and looking forward to going home.

We're stoked.  Done! Done! Done!  Great holiday.  Had fun. Sumptuous food.  Wonderful company.  All smooth going throughout holiday (uuuuummm.. Maybe just a few minor hiccups).  Honestly though, no "lows"'. We are blessed.

Before I end this blog I would like to share a few amazing and weird experiences.

Immigration in Europe.
Go to counter, chop goes the stamp in our passports.  Out we go.  What???  No checking into the computer, no looking into the camera, no questions, no filling in forms.......sweet but scary at the same time.

Eating at cafes/bars.
The locals order their food at bar/counter/bench, eat, drink there.  So a little/lot of overcrowding makes it difficult for us to look at the food or to pay.  We, of course, being more civilized sit and eat at the table and for that privilege we had to pay more!  Strange.  Funny custom.

ABC.  Coined by the Americans on board ... Another Beautuful Church.  There are so many of these ABCs they are swimming in my head.

Tourists, tourists.  The places we went to were all taken up by tourists.  "Look", says our taxi driver... "There's another tourist jogging with a map in his hand".  It became a game to me to try to identify the locals.

Ports.  Super clean big ports, Enormous ports, beautiful ports, and best of all, free Wii Fi.  Husband, Kheng Lee, with a host of ship's crew trying to call, check e-mail while yours truly check out the shops.

Familiar sight.  In the old town of Palamos we saw clothes hanging out to dry outside their windows.  See, Asians are not only the ones who like to do this.

 As I have not been very coherent in my blog,  here is the list of ports we visited.  And yes, my face is red with embarrassment but my excuse is that there are lots to do on board the ship, including playing table tennis with Kheng Lee and yes, he won all the time, so it was just a matter of jotting down my thoughts here and there.

CivitVecchia, Italy
Livorno, Italy
Olbia ISardinia) Italy
La Spezia, Italy
Monte Carlo, Monaco
Antibes, France
Marseilles, France
Palomos, Spain
Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Valencia, Spain

Total distance travelled was 1,463 nautical miles

So, sadly, its time to say goodbye and it's been wonderful talking to you.  Arrivederci, Au Revoir, Adios.  Take care.